Those craving a DeathSpank sequel for the past year will finally be sated. Hothead Games is bringing a proper follow-up to the series with The Baconing. (It’s a weird but delicious-sounding name, one that fans came up with.) Despite not… Continue Reading →

Those craving a DeathSpank sequel for the past year will finally be sated. Hothead Games is bringing a proper follow-up to the series with The Baconing. (It’s a weird but delicious-sounding name, one that fans came up with.) Despite not being named in the title, DeathSpank, the comedic doer of justice, is still the star. He still slays foes with swords and clubs. He fire arrows as expected. And yes, the outhouse save points are still there.

The big difference in the upcoming sequel is that the fantasy elements are gone. This time around, The Baconing infused with more of a sci-fi theme. It seems that Hothead Games, which is self-publishing this title, is using their creative freedom and letting it run wild. The game is basically made by nerd for nerds and includes references to Tron, the Jetsons, the Infinity Gauntlet and other science fiction staples.

The Baconing itself begins after DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue with the titular character bored out of his mind. He’s basically saved the world and has nothing else to prove. He putters around his castle unsure of what to do with himself, so just for kicks, DeathSpank decides to don all six thongs of virtue at the same time.

A CREATURE MADE OF CANDY: It’s apparently a no-no like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. Wearing the thongs calls forth an evil Galactus-like being called the Anti-Spank. The giant entity destroys Spanktopia (Yes, that is the name of a city, and no, I did not make that up.). It’s up DeathSpank to stop this evil by destroying the thongs of virtue in special fires of bacon.

The adventure takes him through several new area’s including The Forest of Tomorrow, where a Jetsons-like family lives; Rainbow’s End, a casino run by leprechauns; Valhalla Heights, a retirement community for the gods and Hollow Erf, Anti-Spank’s headquarters. The areas sound surreal, and from what I saw, they mercilessly skewer the sci-fi genre with in-jokes and references on top of references.

One example of this is Mutoe, a genetically modified creature that’s the mascot of the Forest of Tomorrow. The Jetsons-like family there created the odd creature and turned him into aMickey Mouse spoof. To make things even weirder and slightly disturbing, Mutoe also happens to be made of candy and strangers eat pieces of him.

ADDING DEPTH TO COMBAT: When it comes to gameplay, Hothead Games updates the combat, making it more strategic. Trying to avoid the button-masher trap, the developers added a shield bash that helps DeathSpank manage hordes of foes. The shield also sends projectiles flying back at enemies. Meanwhile, crossbows now have a charge attack. It adds more oomph to the projectile, but at the same time, DeathSpank can’t move while power the shot.

Thirdly, there’s a new series of Justice Attacks. They work similar to the special move inFinal Fight, where using it takes away health. In other words, they’re uber-moves that have the potential to kill a large amount of enemies. All players have to do is know the proper situation to activate it. For example, they can use a drill attack, where drill heads erupt from the ground. If that weren’t enough, DeathSpank has access to a laser designated dragon strike. Overall, players can find up to seven Justice Attacks and each one can be powered up to three levels.

FOOLS RUSH IN: Along with the new moves, the team rethought the design of the levels. Now players don’t have to rush in guns ablazing. DeathSpank has to use boulders and other obstacles that can soak up fire. In addition, there are now exploding barrels — yeah, that cliche — but the way they’re situated in each confrontation lets DeathSpank maximize their effectiveness with a well-placed shot. If that weren’t enough, there’s also several kinds of exploding barrels such as poison or ice.

To balance out these new advantages, Hothead has improved the AI. Melee attackers will take better lines toward DeathSpank while ranged shooters will strafe and look for a better angle to take players down.

NOT AS MANY FETCH QUESTS: One of my bigger complaints about the original DeathSpank was that there were too many fetch quests. A lot of the missions you pick up were too simple or didn’t offer anything aside from “kill five of these pixies and I’ll give you some magic beans.” These are chores not epic tasks that impress you.

Hothead Games tries to fix this by cutting down the number of quests to 112. The developers tried to make the missions less arbitrary and more entwined with DeathSpank’s goals. Everything he does will benefit him in one way or another. In short, players won’t feel like an NPC’s errand boy and the quests don’t always involve direct combat.

For example, there’s a mission where DeathSpank must talk with these Adept monk students. They’ll give players the first half of a lyrical poem and players have to figure out the second half. If they do, they can move on. If they don’t, it may mean a beat down. But hey, combat is optional as long as you’re smart about it.

YES, THERE IS A SHARK IN THIS GAME: Finally, the last big change is a new co-op character. Steve and Sparkles are gone and replaced by Bob from Marketing, a walking hammerhead shark. Don’t ask my why this works, but it does. He runs around fighting with a swordfish in hands and shouting random business buzz words.

He generated one of several laughs I got throughout my preview last month. To tell you the truth, I never found DeathSpank games that funny. Sure, they’re weird, but the humor never connected. But The Baconing gives me some hope that this may be the one DeathSpank title that will have me rolling on the floor laughing through the eight-hour game. If they accomplish that, it’d be a great achievement for Hothead Games, which doesn’t have DeathSpank creator Ron Gilbert at the helm anymore.

The Baconing will be out on the PC, Mac, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this summer. It’s also part of PlayStation’s Play program and is scheduled for Aug. 31 release ate.

The telephone rang. I was busy surfing the Web, so I tried ignoring it, but it buzzed relentlessly. I was reading about the new Arizona immigration law. This is important stuff, but this call kept on distracting me. Finally, I… Continue Reading →

The telephone rang.
I was busy surfing the Web, so I tried ignoring it, but it buzzed relentlessly. I was reading about the new Arizona immigration law. This is important stuff, but this call kept on distracting me. Finally, I picked it up. I had to. When I answer, I usually begin with my name: “This is Gieson.”
It was a publicist calling, and he said he had a preview spot that opened up at the last minute. He wondered if I was interested. “What’s the game?” I asked.

“Excuse me,” I said, “could you repeat that.” I swear I heard a filthy word. Thoughts of Beavis and Butthead came to mind.

“It’s a game called DeathSpank.” What kind of name is that? What’s that about? I looked it up on the Internet. It looked intriguing, but the one thing that sold mewas the name — Ron Gilbert. Could it be? Was it THE Ron Gilbert behind this game. He’s the guy who helmed legendary games such as Maniac Mansionand the Monkey Island series. After hearing this confirmed, I immediately said yes. I spoke with the man himself this week and played the game. Here’s the five things you need to know.

1. Why is the game called DeathSpank? It’s the name of the title character, which Ron Gilbert created as a comic strip about five years ago. The warrior runs around fighting for justice. Voiced by an actor named Michael Dobson, he reminds me a lot of The Tick orGroo. He inhabits a light-hearted fantasy world, where characters are cracking jokes and are always in need of help. Like the comic, the game satirizes fantasy games that take themselves a little too seriously.

2. Now that I know what DeathSpank is, what is the game about? Well, DeathSpank discovers that all his questing and adventuring has been for this moment. The adventurer has to find a relic called The Artifact. But to actually retrieve it, he’ll have to go through a number of trials and tribulations. The first one involved a Demon Witch named Ms. Heybenstance, who was paid to hide The Artifact. She sealed it away, but to unlock the treasure, DeathSpank will need to do a few jobs for her.

The Dispenser of Justice (That’s what he calls himself.) kills a few vicious chickens to prove his worth and then the witch tasks to find some Pixie hair, crystal shards and red demon horns for a magic concoction capable of breaking her spell. OK, it’s not the most creative of quests. In fact, a lot of what DeathSpank does in the world is fairly routine. He’ll go through collection quests, fetch quests, delivery quests. But Gilbert says there’ll be some adventure game elements to some of these tasks. For example, one character will request a spicy taco, but DeathSpank soon learns that a vendor only sells mild ones. So what does he do? Apparently, pixie plants scattered throughout the world is pretty spicy. You do the math. From the sound of it, DeathSpank may be more than a mindless hack and slash. Players will have to use their noggin.

Gilbert said there’ll be hundreds of quests, and he expects players to have at least four or five ongoing tasks as they complete the main missions in the game.

3. What does the combat play like? First off, it’s very customizable. Players can map four weapons to four face buttons and they’ll be mashing them, trying to find the best combination of range and melee to kill foes. Some weapons use a special attack that’s activated via a Justice Meter. I used the hammer to do an area-affecting stun to make the crowds of enemies easier to kill. When I got low on health, I was able to instantly use potion and other items with the direction pad to heal. Second thing to note: DeathSpank will travel on what seems like a flat plane, but it actually rolls to reveal more land. It’s interesting effect that gives the world a more rounded look despite 2D comic book feel. It’s a nice touch when you see it.

As DeathSpank levels up, he’ll be able to choose power-ups called Hero Cards and these Hero Cards will go into a Hero Book. They act as his boosts, and players should pick the cards based on the type of combat they prefer. If your DeathSpank is more of a melee fighter, players will choose cards that boost attack speed or strength. If he’s more of a ranged character, they’d choose speed or a more powerful ranged attack. It’s best to focus on one because players can only use six cards at a time.

Gilbert describes the combination as a Diablo light. Customizing your DeathSpank is vital. Players will need to give him more powerful armor. There will be sets of armor, but unfortunately, they won’t have bonuses so players should feel free to mix and match them to create interesting-looking combinations. When picking weapons, fans need to understand that their swords and bows can do different types of damage. In the game, there are three: fire, ice and nature. And some foes are immune to some but vulnerable to others.

4. What is the world like? When I pressed the Back Button, I actually got to see the land itself. It’s huge. Given this fact, you’d expect getting around would be a pain, but it isn’t thanks to an unusual save system. Scattered throughout the wilderness are outhouses. As DeathSpank approaches these structures, the game automatically saves. After that, our hero can uses these toilets to travel around the world, just don’t ask me how this happens. I shudder to think about the physics of it.

The areas themselves are varied from forests to swamps. They’re painted in vibrant colors that changes as the world streams into the system. Yes, there are no load times when walking from one end of the land to another. Come to think of it, the way it’s all set on a flat plane reminds me of the 2D The Legend of Zelda games with the obvious difference being that the visuals are hundreds of times more beautiful.

5. So when can we expect this game?DeathSpank is being published by Electronic Arts and it’s scheduled for release this summer on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. There is a multiplayer component but Gilbert isn’t talking about that yet. Overall, the game has been two years in production over at Gilbert’s Hothead Studios.

“I spent my career doing adventure games,” he said. “Fusing that with action games I like to play wasn’t so hard to do.”